


Someone to Remember

by tildarcta



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Melancholy, Post-Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Pre-Star Wars: Rebels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:27:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26876671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tildarcta/pseuds/tildarcta
Summary: Ahsoka spends time with a cat.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15





	Someone to Remember

It’s been three weeks and Ahsoka still has not gotten used to the weather on this planet, everchanging, wild and unpredictable. Yesterday it was cold and still. Today the clouds drag close to the ground, spitting rain at irregular intervals at those who habit the surface and turning the farmed fields into wavy oceans as the wind bends the grass. She stands at the edge of the town, watching the open grasslands and enjoying the feeling of being alive as the blow throws leaves and small drops of water against her montrals.

Light of the late afternoon is slowly fading behind the raging skies.

“Ashla dear, what are you doing here?” The voice of a Zabrak woman raises above the howling. She stands in between two old, dark and plain buildings, framed by their windowless back walls. 

“I could ask you the same”, Ahsoka says, barely turning her head but letting the kindness be audible in her voice.

“We ran out of meat. Won’t you come with me?”

“I’ll stand here for a moment, if you don’t mind. It’s refreshing.”

“That’s one word for it”, the woman tuts, shaking her head as the wind picks at her clothes. “It’s going to get dangerous soon, Kato said there will be flares.”

“Thank you, Halia.”

The woman sighs, gathers her billowing skirts and leaves Ahsoka alone. 

Ahsoka stays where she is, letting her eyes roam. She sees a lone animal far on the fields taking long jumps in order to get to a shelter from the storm. Clouds paint hazy images onto the heavy skies, and her subconscious mind shapes them into planets and star destroyers before they change again.

The wind tries its best to rip the cloak from her shoulders. Ahsoka wraps it tighter.

_How long has it been, Rex? Nine years?_

The animal disappears from view. Ahsoka does not notice.

_That’s a long time._

  


The first flare illuminates the clouds with a yellowish light that starts from the mountains in the horizon and spreads through the sky within a second. It disappears as quickly as it came, silently like a ghost. Ahsoka flinches under her cloak and turns back to the town.

Under the dark glass that now covers the buildings the sky turns muddy. The upper roof has been pulled out to protect power lines from the storm, not that much of it would be visible in any case. Ahsoka shakes the dripping water from her cloak and follows the narrow alleys into the western side of the town, stairs and tunnels leading her into the quiet living blocks. The buildings are lit with dim lights, some neon, but mostly the same rusty orange that everyone in the galaxy recognizes. It’s like the lower levels Coruscant in miniature size: less people, less noise, less blood. 

Closer to the center the roadside bars enveloped in thin fog have less customers than normally, and the few silhouettes sitting at the counters are quiet. In the smaller alleys the only living being she sees is a scrawny tooka.

This far from the edge of the town she can’t even feel the wind, only the faint breeze from the air conditioning ducts. The air is at that temperature when you don’t know whether it’s warm or cool.

Kato grunts as a way of greeting from the kitchenette as she steps inside the small apartment. He is a Zabrak too, not much taller than Ahsoka, but well-built and what Ahsoka supposes counts as good-looking. There is a window near the ceiling that shows one of the orange lightbulbs on the opposite wall outside, and the blinds sift the glow into stripes on his face.

“Did Helia come back already?”

Kato nods. He doesn’t talk much. 

Helia’s steps come from upstairs and she descends the stairs with the sort of grace that reminds Ahsoka of people long gone.

“Oh good, you made it back”, she notes and pushes Kato out of the way to get to the cupboard. He retreats into an armchair with a glass of water.

“Could you help with dinner?”

“Of course.”

Ahsoka has never been a particularly good cook, but she handles the basics and is more than adequate with a knife. Helia hands her a square chunk of dark red meat.

“Take the big knife, others won’t cut through that”, she instructs as Ahsoka places the meat onto a cutting board.

For a while they prepare the ingredients in silence.

“Are you making progress with your project?” 

Ahsoka nods. “I am. It won’t be long now, maybe a week.”

“That’s good to hear. Kato?”

Kato hums.

“Could you help too?”

“I doubt I’d fit there, there’s already two of you.”

“I know, but would you set the table or something? This won’t take long.”

Kato gets up slowly, sets the glass down and joins them.

Outside the storm rages on.

  


As they rise from the table twenty minutes later, Kato heads straight for the stairs.

“Where are you going?”

“I have work to do.”

“What work?”

“Just work.”

Halia shakes her head. “That’s not fair. There’s still lots to do down here.” 

“ _I_ have lots to do. You’ll manage.”

“Excuse me?” Halia takes a couple of steps forward and notices too late that the glass of water is still on the edge of a bench. The hem of her skirt knocks it over, the glass breaks, the water spreads onto the floor and Halia jumps back.

“ _Why_ did you leave that there!” she yells. “I’ve told you a hundred times– “

“I was going to drink it later! I guess I won’t now.”

“I have no need for your attitude!"

“ _My_ attitude?”

Ahsoka listens to their escalating argument from the side for a moment, before deciding there is nothing she can do. She walks softly to the door and steps out into the evening. The sounds of their fight become muffled as soon as the door closes, and she walks slowly further away until they have disappeared altogether.

A herd of thousands of water droplets on the glass roof slides down towards the edges, refracting light from below. 

The alleys hum mechanically and Ahsoka treads around a corner. 

The same tooka she saw earlier is standing next to the wall, staring at her warily, ready to run. Ahsoka walks closer, leans on the wall and slides down until her bottom touches the ground. 

The tooka does not move.

“Care to keep me company?” 

The tooka blinks.

“My hosts are fighting, I’d rather stay out of the way.”

She lifts her gaze and looks at the dark windows of the opposite building. The glass mirrors the glow on the streets.

“They are good people, but these are strange times, I suppose. It affects everyone differently.” Ahsoka sighs and the tooka tilts its head, one ear flinching as it brushes shortly against the wall. Taking a step away from it, it shifts a little closer to Ahsoka and sits down.

“Thank you”, she whispers. A flash illuminates the sky behind the roof for a second.

“So what’s your story, huh? Have you always been living on the streets?” The tooka sniffs and Ahsoka nods.

“I see. Tough life for you and me both.

“Well. I do have a job, so to speak, and I’m not on my own, but it’s been quite lonely for the last couple of years.” 

She sighs. The sound mixes with the humming around them, but apart from them there is not a sign of other living things. 

“I’ve lost so many of my friends, and the ones who are left are usually far away.”

The tooka looks at her with more sympathy than many people she has known possessed, and she extends her fingers.

“There might be something of the dinner left.”

The tooka takes a tentative step closer, sniffing at her fingers until it’s close enough to lick at them. A coarse tongue wraps lightly around her fingertips.

“Are you lonely?”

The tooka continues licking at her palm and does not answer. Ahsoka snorts.

Time seems to stretch into something different, more static. It does not flow or move like it usually does but stands still, spreading over the alley like a carpet and filling the small corners and crevices. The dim light, usually faint and thin, feels thicker, tougher, and harder to break. The small creature next to her is drawing her slowly deeper and deeper into a dark, strange realm of night and silence just by being there.

They sit still.

“I was friends with a senator, once”, Ahsoka says softly then, matching her tone to the lulling atmosphere. The tooka decides that it has gotten everything it can from Ahsoka’s fingers, and Ahsoka brings her hand absently to its head and pets the animal behind its ears.

“She was the sweetest person I’ve ever met, kind, compassionate…” She smiles sadly at the phantom image in her head. 

“She would have liked you. As would have my grandmaster.”

The tooka blinks slowly. Ahsoka is not sure if it’s listening or not. She continues nonetheless. 

“They are both gone now.”

  


Outside the time drags on, but it leaves their little corner alone. Ahsoka tells the tooka about the people she has lost, what they were like and how they lived. She talks about women who forged their own paths and whom the universe let down, about men who fought until the end only to gain nothing. She tells about the Republic, about children she met in faraway villages, about sunrises on Ilum. The tooka sits still, not once showing signs of leaving. Quite on the opposite, it seems to listen closer as Ahsoka talks, small eyes reflecting much deeper awareness than most animals, perhaps even most sentients. The uneven lights cast shadows on its fur as Ahsoka’s fingers brush through it, telling a tale of long months on the streets. Ahsoka does not ask.

The talking feels good. Apart from the tooka, no one can hear.

  


“I’d better get back soon”, she says eventually. The time she has stolen in the alley where time does not exist is slowly slipping away, she can feel it. 

Outside the night has arrived, and the tooka looks at her with understanding in its eyes. It knows.

“I’ll be all right”, Ahsoka whispers. “I know.”

She stands up slowly. 

“I don’t think we’ll see each other again, do you?” The tooka does not respond.

“Thank you”, Ahsoka says. The small animal gets on its feet, stretches, and slowly disappears behind a corner.

When the tip of its tail is finally out of sight, the spell unwinds. The raindrops on the roof move like they did before, the steam from a neighboring block feels real and warm. Time takes the first steps forward and after a moment it’s like nothing ever happened.

Except something has happened.

  


As Ahsoka heads back to the apartment, the air feels easier to breathe. The atmosphere feels lighter and the world less heavy, and as she reaches the front door, she knows that she will not find an argument inside. 

She stops, lifts her eyes towards the sky and is not surprised to see a shining cluster of stars in the middle of the clouds, bright enough to be visible even through the roof.

_You know, Rex, we are going to have a long chat when we meet again. There’s much I want to share._

And as she steps inside, she has the most peculiar feeling that somewhere Rex is thinking about the same thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Now that I think about it, this would be an opportunity for a second chapter from Rex’s point of view. If you have any ideas, I’d be glad to hear about them!


End file.
